Jessica Darnbrough
The federal government’s ‘fifth pillar’ concept has not been well articulated, according to Mark Bouris.
Speaking to The Adviser, Yellow Brick Road’s executive chairman, Mr Bouris, said the government should stop bandying around the term ‘fifth pillar’ and start articulating exactly what it is and who is in it.
“If the government wants to create a ‘fifth pillar’, they should make it crystal clear who comprises it,” Mr Bouris said.
“The term ‘fifth Pillar’ could mean any number of things. What I would like to see the government articulate is that the pillar consists of credit unions, building societies, a group called Australian Financial Institutions and indeed non-banks as well."
According to Mr Bouris, Australia’s non-bank lenders account for an integral part of the ‘fifth pillar’.
It was the non-bank sector that originally created competition in the mortgage lending space back in the 90s. And, with the right support they could easily boost competition again, said Mr Bouris.